Rolando Medrano
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, December 26, 2024, p. 4
Directors of the civil organization Morena Agropecuaria Sinaloa, in interviews with The Dayconsidered that to reverse the trend of low corn planting and production due to drought, high input costs, low prices for production and lack of financing, good management of irrigation systems and modernization of them is required, and that the government take charge of agricultural research.
Likewise, a crop reconversion policy is needed, establishing long-term plans that give certainty to agricultural activity with marketing systems that establish a fair price and a financing system, based on refounding a first-tier bank, which will be eliminated with the disappearance of Financiera Rural, and grants sufficient, timely and cheap credits.
Yes there is support, but it is not enough. Cheap and timely credits are needed. As Morena Agropecuaria Sinaloa we have proposed that the entity, as a result of climate change and the uncertain rain cycle, should abandon irrigated agriculture and return to taking advantage of the storm.
said Manuel León Perea, president of the group.
He explained that corn is grown at any time of the year, with very good results, and there are already varieties suitable for any type of climate or soil, Therefore, it is necessary to experiment with sowing in the months of the rainy season, to take advantage of them, which begins in June.
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–Why is corn production in Mexico at its lowest level in the last 10 years?
–In the case of Sinaloa, the fundamental problem is the decrease in rainfall in the spring-summer season, which causes low intake in the 11 dams of Sinaloa. Today they are at 18.3 percent on average – said Domingo Quiero Herrera, general secretary of Morena Agropecuaria.
“And as a serious case: the largest dams in Sinaloa, which capture a third of the total volume, more than 8 million cubic meters, are the Luis Donaldo Colosio or Huites dam – with which the Valle del Fuerte is irrigated – and The Adolfo López Mateos –with which the North Valley of Culiacán is irrigated– are at 1.6 and 13 percent, respectively, of their storage capacity.”
–How much has the conversion of crops influenced the decrease in grain production?
–In the last two years, due to lack of water there has been no conversion of crops, which is a policy that urgently needs to be adopted. During the last year, 450 thousand tons of beans have been imported from the United States, when historically Mexico has been self-sufficient in the legume, maintaining imports by necessary quota at less than 100 thousand tons – explained Humberto Gálvez Bernal, treasurer of the organization.
If there were conversion of crops, Sinaloa, in this drought situation, would have to be planting at least 200 thousand hectares of beans that would give Mexico the capacity to supply these imports, considering that this crop has a very low demand for water, a fifth of what requires corn, and that Sinaloa, due to climate, soil, capacity and productive culture, has the conditions to produce all the varieties consumed in Mexico, mainly black, pinto and sulfur
he stressed.
–What is the reason why corn imports from the United States have increased?
–Because we are not self-sufficient and because it is less complicated for the flour industry to import grain than to submit to the uncertainty of the marketing programs and policies established, always late, by the Mexican government.
–Are there incentives for communities to dedicate themselves to growing corn and agricultural activities in general?
–Yes, like fertilizers and Production for Wellbeing supports. In Sinaloa, agricultural producers, having water for irrigation, prefer planting corn, not because it is the best option, but because it is the least bad and climatically and least risky due to management, unlike beans or chickpeas, which are very sensitive. to the climate – detailed Cuauhtémoc Martínez, from Morena Agropecuaria.
“In addition, corn is the one that has, for better or worse, some marketing program, with all its deficiencies, unlike other crops in which the government does not even get involved, or gets involved when the problem is already there, and leaves us defenseless against coyotes (intermediaries).”
–What role does technology play in improving crop productivity?
–An important role; But, we return to the same thing, the lack of certainty since producers do not know with what money we are going to plant and if we plant we do not know who we are going to sell to and at what price and when they will pay, prevents us from continuing to adopt new technologies – Óscar Urías Castro, member of the supervisory board, pointed out.
For example, he commented, The use of drones to fumigate and opportunely kill pests or to improve flowering development or to fertilize already exists; But we return to our drama: with what money do we do it, and if we do it, are we going to recover it?
